Baby Carrots ~~ When Is A Carrot Not A Carrot?

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The Truth About Baby Carrots

North Americans love baby carrots. Even more than regular, ordinary carrots. We love them because they are a fresh, ready-to-eat vegetable packaged in a convenient format. A wonderful snack food! We put them on party plates, in our kids lunches and in airline snacks. We carry them to soccer games and we grab them when we are on the run. Americans gladly pay more for products that are ready-to-go.

First, let me say that I am not a nutritionist or a scientist or anything of the sort. I am just a Mom and a consumer who is somewhat concerned about what she puts in her and her family's bodies.

Second, what started me searching for information about baby carrots was an e-mail that arrived in my inbox that claimed to be from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for leading retailers in Canada. Of course, there was no source listed on this e-mail. It was pretty anonymous.

What followed was a search for information, the results of which I have gathered here on this page to share with you.

Related Topics:

The Best-Ever Garden Salad Recipe * Baby Carrots ~~ When Is A Carrot Not A Carrot * Looneyspoons is Low-Fat Food Made Fun * Crazy Plates: Low-Fat Food So Good, You'll Swear It's Bad For You * The Best-Ever Carrot Cake Recipe * Carrot Jokes

What Are Baby Carrots? 

In North America, baby carrots are either:

baby carrot

  • Miniature carrots that are harvested before they are fully developed, sometimes as a result of crop thinning and sometimes as a specialty crop. They can also be a carrot grown to the 'baby stage,' or
  • Full grown carrots that are cut to make them smaller and uniformly shaped.

Your Baby Carrots May Not Be Baby Carrots At All! 

This means that some baby carrots are not actually babies at all! They are full-grown carrots that have been cut down into two-inch sections. Those may be the ones we need to be careful of. Read on...

baby carrots

"I was shocked when I first discovered that (they were cut to shape)," says Jeanne Ambrose, Food and Entertainment Editor of Better Homes and Gardens. "I'd wondered how they got them all so perfectly matched to grow all the same shape and size."

Did you know that some baby carrots are not actually baby carrots? 

I have to say that I did not actually think about it. I just ate them when they were offered, occasionally buying them for special occasions or for an easy, nutritious snack. I assumed that they were a good, nutritious choice for my family.

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Who Started This Baby Carrot Craze? 

Or, the history of the baby carrot.

Bunny Luv carrots


Californian farmer Mike Yurosek is widely credited with creating the baby carrot. As a farmer and, I expect, as a businessman, he was unhappy with the fact that he had to throw out up to 800 tons of carrots a day because they were not 'perfect.' They might have had a bad spot or imperfections like being twisted, knobby, bent or broken and he had to throw them away. The consumer would not buy these 'inferior' products so he sometimes 70 percent of his carrot crop was tossed out.

He used an industrial green been cutter to cut his carrots into two and then put them through a industrial potato peeler to create the first baby carrot, which became known as "Bunny-Luv."

With the development of the baby carrot, carrots were reborn and became a 'premium' food. They cost considerably more than regular carrots and children gobbled them up!

Today, Bolthouse Farms and Grimmway Farms are the world's largest growers, processors and shippers of baby carrots. Even my favorite brand of frozen vegetable, Green Giant, resells carrots from Bolthouse Farms.

Why Did They Decide To Make Baby Carrots? 

Well, of course Farmer Yurosek was trying to reduce waste but, over the years, some people even came to believe that these baby carrots were better in terms of texture, nutrition and/or taste and of course there is the consumer's quest for convenience but perhaps the most important reason for making baby carrots may be that a product is made from an item that previously was thrown out and then sold for at least double the value of regular carrots.

Carrots Sure Are A Beautiful Thing 

carrots mosaic
Photo compilation by M Kasahara on Flickr.

What About The Taste and Nutrition of Baby Carrots? 

Remember that I am not a nutritionist, I am writing what I have gleaned from doing some research. I have read that carrots are one of the best ways for the body to get vitamin A. Our bodies change the beta carotene that is in carrots into vitamin A and it is reported that Americans receive 30 percent of their vitamin A from carrots.

Modern carrots have been bred to be sweeter because that is part of their appeal as a snack and longer and narrower as size and shape is important if you are cutting them into baby carrots! (They can get three baby carrots out of one large carrot now instead of two as was the case originally.) Carrots are bred for uniform color because, of course, if you are cutting them into baby carrots, you don't want to have a lot of color variation.

All of this has lead to baby carrots that are nice -- crisp and sweet - but without much flavor -- not much carrot taste or smell.

Baby carrots are not as nutritious as whole carrots. They are grown fast and ripened quickly and have about 70 percent of the beta carotene of a regular carrot. Plus, much of the nutritional value of the carrot is in the skin and just below that area. This part is peeled away in the process of making a baby carrot.

Click here to buy
Renee's Baby Carrot Garden Seeds
from Amazon.

$3.99

The Creation of Baby Carrots... 

How are baby carrots 'made'? Watch the step-by-step production process...it appears pretty much the same today as when Farmer Mike Yurosek first made them.

 

Producepedia.com: How baby carrots are made

 

automatically generated by YouTube

How Are Baby Carrots Made? 

The video does a very nice job of illustrating how baby carrots are made. However, it is a pretty 'clean' video and if you were to believe it you would think that the carrots were always nice and clean but there is at least one important step missing. Often, when baby carrots are being made, they are rinsed or soaked in chlorinated water.

Here is the Most Important Thing, in my mind:

Some baby carrots are washed or dipped in a CHLORINE SOLUTION to prevent whiteness on the outside of the carrot. The same chlorine that you might find in a backyard pool and chlorine is a carcinogen.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Fresh-Cut Vegetables 

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the use of chlorine as an antimicrobial treatement is a currently accepted practice in the processing for all fresh-cut, ready-to-eat vegetables. (Section 4.4.) You will have your own opinion, of course, on what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to you and we know that often things are approved by the government and later declared bad for us.

Does Dole Do Baby Carrots Right? 

Maybe.

dole baby carrots


Dole's website claims that baby carrots are sweeter and more tender than full-grown carrots. They state that their carrots are small because they are either grown closer together or harvested earlier than big carrots.

Dole also says that if you notice a white coating on the baby carrots that just means that they are dehydrated and that you should put them in water to rehydrate them.

Others say that the white which appears on the carrots in your fridge is the chlorine coming out. Fact or fiction?

Be A Scientist And Debunk This Baby Carrot Myth At Home 

Another site I read stated that the whiteness is actually caused by dehydration. They say that you can take any carrot and cut it in half, leave it in your fridge and it too will have the same white appearance once it has dried a bit. Of course, baby carrots get more white on them because the entire carrot is cut surface!

If you were hoping that there was a magical solution to eating baby carrots, there just may be.

To determine whether small carrots are 'real' baby carrots read the packaging. Labels on bags of very young carrots will say 'baby carrots.' Labels on bags of carrots made by chopping them down are called 'baby-cut carrots.'

Use this as your guide and you can go on eating baby carrots without worrying about chlorine...

Baby Carrots Reading For You 

Snopes.com: Baby Carrots
Are baby carrots made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been soaked in chlorine?
USATODAY.com - Digging The Baby Carrot
Baby carrots have overtaken the nation like a healthful tsunami, an orange tide that is sliding into grocery carts, pooling on dinner plates and lapping into minivans full of snack-hungry kids.
Dole -- Baby Carrots
Just pick up a bag of DOLE Peeled Mini Carrots in the refrigerated section of your supermarket. We pick them by hand, sort and wash them - ready to be enjoyed.
The World's Healthiest Foods
Great page packed with information including the nutritional value of carrots.

Are You Going To Continue Eating Baby Carrots? 

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BABY CARROT TRIVIA

Baby carrots represent approximately one third of the sales of fresh carrots.

More of those beautiful carrots, these ones sure to make you hungry! 

baby carrots at the market by kthread

080410 carrots by Dan4th

Carrots .Carota - Wortels - Geze - 胡萝卜 by color line

Baby carrot by briannaorg

Baby Carrots by iLoveButter

Baby carrots by Kai Hendry

curated content from Flickr

CARROT TRIVIA

1960 -- Americans ate 6 pounds of carrots a year.

2008 -- Americans eat 10.5 pounds of carrots a year.

In Defense of Food 

Follow this link to read more about this fascinating book.

In Defense of Food Book



Robin (or RMS) who wrote the page at the following link says, "I have been saying that fresh is best for years at my garden cooking site, Fresh Cooking From Your Garden and am happy that Michael Pollan took a stand in defense of the same concept...I highly recommend this book as a soft reminder that everyone should be eating more fruits and veggies."

Click here to buy In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto from Amazon or follow the link to see what else Robin has to say about it.

"If you get ambushed by a snack attack between meals or at social functions, bring along or request a nutritious snack like baby carrots or celery with peanut butter. The snack will help you feel satisfied and curb your desire to continue snacking."

-- Amy Grant on Healthy Holiday Eating

Baby Carrots Were Just The Beginning Of My Carrot Phase... 

My carrot collection includes the best-ever carrot cake recipe, a page full of carrot humor and carrot photo fight!

More Of My Pages Dedicated To Low-Fat, Heathly Eating 

Baby Carrot Bloggings 

A Homemaker's Diary: Root Vegetable Soup with Chili Infused Oil
The thick soup with a bright colour, tasted amazing? the sweetness of the baby carrots, the sharpness of the tomato and the earthy aroma of the chilli oil gave it a rounded taste?we had bowlfuls of this with some stir fried veggies and ...
Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
Honey Glazed Baby Carrots Carrots are cooked then glazed with a honey and butter sauce with a little lemon juice. These carrots are quick and easy to prepare, and they make a great side dish for a big family meal or holiday dinner. ...
Lisa runs? Wait... what?: Baby carrots, wardrobe malfunction and ...
Baby carrots. I need to try that! I actually have some with me at work today (too bad I can't run right now). I have the Sport Tracks software too, but I usually just look at my Garmin lap times. I usually blog from my work computer and ...

Baby Carrot Controversy -- Your Comments, Concerns & Questions 

Should I be concerned?

Well, back to what set off the creation of this page. The e-mail I received said that baby carrots are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine and that chlorine is a known carcinogen.

In my mind, it seems like a simple choice to go back to enjoying 'real' carrots -- either regular sized ones or ones that have been harvested while babies. Then I will know that there is no chance they have been dipped in chlorine, I will know they are healthier and my pocket book will know that they cost less.

I would love to hear from you about what you think of the Baby Carrot Controversy.

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rabbits running away carrots
An appropriate ending...
Thank you for visiting this page!

by Treasures-By-Brenda

I have stopped eating baby carrots. I just feel better about this decision and, as an added benefit, my wallet feels better, too!

This page was hon... (more)

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